Rhyacionia buoliana

Rhyacionia buoliana (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)

pine shoot

on Pinus

Pinus nigra, Velsen, lg Velserbeek; to judge by the branching pattern this sapling has survived infestations in earlier years.

gall

In autumn the larva hollows a bud, then hibernates, then bores in a developing shoot until summer. Damaged shoots generally die off, but when a strong shoot is involved, the leading shoot in particlar, it may continue growing, resulting in a deformed, commercially uselsess, stem.